A ‘young and dangerous’ birthday celebration at Opus Bistro and Crab Factory, sans the crab
It’s interesting when you just let nature takes its own course. My ‘extended’ stay in KL coincides with the birthday month of Cupcake and Queen of Bee, so we arranged for a birthday makan (eating) together!
Opus Bistro @ The Bangkung Row, suggested by Queen of Bee. A quick search revealed that it is proclaimed by many as one of the best Italian restaurants in town. My inner voice told me not to set my expectations way too high.
Traffic was absolutely brilliant since it was the eve of Hari Raya Puasa. It feels as though I have been away for ages, but I was just away for two consecutive Hari Raya Puasa only.
We were the first customers to arrive around 6pm when the restaurant was just opened for business. Ironically, we were ushered to a table outside the restaurant, as the restaurant was fully booked. We jokingly said, “first to arrive, but seated at the worst table.” There was a big group seated outside Cava Restaurant, few doors away from Opus, so we were ‘entertained’ by loud chatter and laughter. Free entertainment. Not a big issue for us, but our table was a small-squarish table, so we had to be careful with our utensils and glasses.
We ordered:
- Opus’ Special Seafood Antipasti Platter (RM 52) for sharing. It includes the best of Opus seafood in one platter: grilled scallops and prawns, fresh clams in white wine sauce, and calamari in arrabiatta sauce. I like the white wine sauce the most.
- Wild Mushroom and Asparagus Risotto (RM 38 for secondi size portion). Not my birthday, but the girls ordered this for me, as I do love a good risotto. See … that’s why I love them so much. The dish was good, but not lip-smacking good.
Not sure what type of rice used, but seemed to be different than the common type I had in other restaurants. What makes a good risotto? Perfectly cooked rice (not too soft, and not too hard), packed full of aromatic flavour, an explosion of flavour in your mouth.
- Spaghetti Seafood in Squid Ink Sauce (RM 42 for secondi size portion). I prefer this dish to the risotto. The Squid Ink sauce served is different than others that I have tried before. Not a food expert, so can’t pinpoint exactly what it is, but I like it.
As we didn’t order a lot, we had plenty space left for two desserts! One was meant to be a birthday surprise, which the staff failed to deliver. Other reviews on Opus Bistro’s Facebook page also pointed out the same problems. If it is a recurring problem, why has their management yet to take any action on it? Disappointing indeed.
- Opus’ Special Tiramisu (RM 20). It’s ok, they have got their tiramisu right, in my humble opinion.
- Chocolate Desire (RM 26), baked chocolate cake ala chocolate lava, served with a scoop of vanilla ice cream
I love this; dish of the day for me, also known as my ‘failed birthday surprise’. How could staff missed birthday surprise arrangement requested by customers? Baffling, isn’t it? When the cake arrived at our table, sans candle, the complaints on their Facebook page are ascertained. So, avoid at all cost if it’s for special occassion.
After dinner, I still wanted some snacks … It was a very interesting quick brainstorm session between the few of us. We went from Jalan Alor’s grilled chicken wings, to tong shui (Chinese dessert), to coconut ice cream at Sangkaya, to Chinese rojak, to steamboat luk luk at SS2.
Final verdict? Yay!! Steamboat luk luk at SS2 Hawker Center …. Cupcake drove us from Bangsar to SS2, but …. the stall is already not in operation ngaaaaaaaaaa. Since when they closed down? I want my luk luk, my steamboat on a skewer, to be eaten with chilli sauce.
I must have looked so disappointed, that the girls then obliged with my next choice: Crab Factory, a place that I wanted to try for a long time. The best girl friends one can ever ask for. Where else can you find friends that actually entertained a non-birthday girl’s whims and fancies?
Ahh .. Crab Factory for their ‘crab in a bag‘ ….. but there was yet another twist. Life is wicked, no? It is toooo expensive, that we think it’s not worth it. RM 100+ for snack-after-dinner is way tooo much.
So, no crab, but we opted for baby octopus (RM 43 for 500 grams) instead.
Being media planners, we did a post-mortem after we left Crab Factory. It’s in our blood, die-hard planners. We decided against ordering crabs because of the price tag, but I also think if we went there for dinner, perhaps we would not be hesitant.
For me personally, since I picked up dinner’s tab at Opus earlier, I was sure that they won’t let me pay or share Crab Factory’s bill. So, bye-bye crab!
My two friends then did their research to find out market price. Being their efficient-selves, the report came back first thing in the morning, on a public holiday, mind you.
“Mum said crab now is expensive, 1kg approximately RM 60++” Queen Bee
My jaw-dropping moment came from Cupcake’s LIVE report from morning market. I think we can concoct some sort of story for award submission, sure win!
I do want to come back to this place, perhaps after I rejoin workforce. Or, if anyone want to give me a crabby treat, PM me. Haha.
Crab Factory have Happy Hour promotion from Tuesday to Thursday, from 3pm to 5.30pm, and dining has to be completed by 6.30pm, but …. it’s working hours. I can’t possibly finish everything by myself! It’s dirt cheap: mussels and prawns combo (RM 38.90), yabbies and prawns combo (RM 45.90) and crab and prawns combo (RM 49.90). Unless if anyone wants to take leave and go with me. Sigh. Wishful thinking.
Opus Bistro @ The Bangkung Row
67, Jalan Bangkung, Bukit Bandaraya, 59100 Kuala Lumpur. Malaysia
TEL: +603-2092 4288
Business hours: Mon – Sat 12noon – 3pm| 6pm -12Midnight, Sun & Public Holiday 6pm -12Midnight
Crab Factory Original Louisiana Boil
21, Jalan SS2/64, 47300 Petaling Jaya, Selangor
Tel: 03-7865 5850
Business hours: Tue, Wed & Thurs: 3pm – 11pm, Fri, Sat & Sun: 11am – 11pm. Close on Mondays.